Rose offered $1m to keep her mouth shut

Actress Rose McGowan speaks on a panel at the inaugural Women's Convention in Detroit, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. McGowan recently went public with her allegation that film company co-founder Harvey Weinstein raped her.AP Photo - Paul Sancya

FORMER Hollywood actor Rose McGowan says she was recently offered $US1 million for her silence over her Harvey Weinstein sexual-assault allegation.

The hush-money offer was made by someone close to the creepy filmmaker in exchange for McGowan - one of Weinstein's most vocal accusers - signing a nondisclosure agreement, the New York Times reported.

"I had all these people I'm paying telling me to take it so that I could fund my art," said McGowan, 44, who no longer acts.

How much would you charge to shave your eyebrows? Rose McGowan demanded $US 5 million.

McGowan, who starred in the Weinstein-produced movie Scream, responded by making a counteroffer of $US6 million, which she eventually retracted.

"I figured I could probably have gotten him up to three. But I was like - ew, gross, you're disgusting, I don't want your money, that would make me feel disgusting," said McGowan, who drained her bank account footing her father's healthcare costs. He died eight years ago.

In 1997, the Charmed actor reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein, whom she's publicly accused of raping her in a hotel room, but she learned this summer that that agreement never included a confidentiality clause.

Weinstein's latest offer to McGowan came in the days before multiple women accused Weinstein of decades of sexual harassment and abuse in a bombshell report published October 5 by the Times.

She told her lawyer to pull the offer within a day of the story running.

A spokeswoman for Weinstein has said he "unequivocally denies any allegations of nonconsensual sex".